Topic: Upgrading HDD

[Craig Cabrey]

Hi,
I have SME 7.4 running on a old Dell Dimension 4400. This thing comes with a 40G HDD which was working up to this point, but now it is filled up. What is the best way to upgrade the HD in your opinion (rebuild system, image, etc.)? Thanks!

PS Plan to put a 500GB in there

[Stefano]

What is the best way to upgrade the HD in your opinion (rebuild system, image, etc.)? Thanks!

the wiki will be your friend

PS Plan to put a 500GB in there

is your actual hd a SATA one? I don't think such an old pc could use such a big hd..

Ciao
Stefano

[Craig Cabrey]

No it is a PATA system.

[Stefano]

No it is a PATA system.

I have just discovered that yes, there are 500 GB pata hds

BTW, check your bios.. you could have some issues with big disks

Ciao
Stefano

[Craig Cabrey]

Ok, I backed up to a workstation (a Mac running samba) and I got an email saying everything was successful. Does this mean that all configuration files, email, home folders, ibays, etc were backed up? Do I need to manually back anything up or does dar have it all covered?

[p-jones]

This thing comes with a 40G HDD which was working up to this point, but now it is filled up. What is the best way to upgrade the HD in your opinion

There is a much easier way than where you are heading. I have done it a few times and it works like a treat. You are going to have to search the wiki as previously suggested for exact details as I dont remember the steps exactly nor do I have the link on hand - maybe someone else does.

Basically you add the drive to the existing machine, at the console login as admin, create a mirror with the new drive and mirror it.

The new drive will be indentical to the existing drive, including partition sizes.

Remove original drive and boot from the new drive.

You then need to log in at the console as root and run several commands at the prompt line to resize the partition.

It is all fairly painless and your original drive remains totally intact should something go amiss.

Search the wiki and the forums under lvm, resize and the article will come up.

Hope this helps
P

[pfloor]

There is a much easier way than where you are heading. I have done it a few times and it works like a treat. You are going to have to search the wiki as previously suggested for exact details as I dont remember the steps exactly nor do I have the link on hand - maybe someone else does.

Basically you add the drive to the existing machine, at the console login as admin, create a mirror with the new drive and mirror it.

The new drive will be indentical to the existing drive, including partition sizes.

Remove original drive and boot from the new drive.

You then need to log in at the console as root and run several commands at the prompt line to resize the partition.

It is all fairly painless and your original drive remains totally intact should something go amiss.

Search the wiki and the forums under lvm, resize and the article will come up.

Hope this helps
P

http://wiki.contribs.org/Raid#Upgrading_the_Hard_Drive_Size

[Craig Cabrey]

I appreciate the suggestions, but its too late for that... I have already installed the 500GB by installing a new system and just restoring. It was surprisingly easy to bring back online and the only things missing were a few contribs and my vmware machine (winxp). But I'll keep this method in mind for the future!
Again, thanks for your help!
Craig

[elmarconi]

There is a much easier way than where you are heading. I have done it a few times and it works like a treat. You are going to have to search the wiki as previously suggested for exact details as I dont remember the steps exactly nor do I have the link on hand - maybe someone else does.

Basically you add the drive to the existing machine, at the console login as admin, create a mirror with the new drive and mirror it.

The new drive will be indentical to the existing drive, including partition sizes.

Remove original drive and boot from the new drive.

You then need to log in at the console as root and run several commands at the prompt line to resize the partition.

It is all fairly painless and your original drive remains totally intact should something go amiss.

Search the wiki and the forums under lvm, resize and the article will come up.

Agree. This is by far the easiest method. Applied this on several servers, initially installed on 20Gb drives, but switched to larger capacity due to success! Mixing PATA and SATA will also work. Sometimes you need to fiddle with BIOS settings and/or HDD jumpers though...

[p-jones]

Thanks for that link Paul.

Peter